Political Leverage

When the administrator asked about Allen, Amber Xiu could more or less guess what had happened.

The Lyne Empire was tougher than he had imagined. This could clearly have been settled with a little money, yet they had chosen the most uncompromising approach.

That James Watson really did not care about his son's life or death in the slightest.

The Orc bartender heard the question. Before he could answer, his eyes involuntarily glanced toward Amber Xiu.

The young administrator was extremely perceptive and immediately noticed it. He turned to Amber Xiu and said, "Looks like you're involved too. Come, you drink as well."

After saying that, the administrator took out two more bottles of Magic Potion and placed them on the bar.

The administrator spoke entirely in the tone of a command, leaving no room for discussion.

In Alchemy City, administrators represented absolute truth. No one was allowed to contradict them.

Headless Bro chuckled and said to Amber Xiu, "Brother Diga, need a hand?"

Hearing Headless Bro, the administrator sneered. "Trying to resist arrest? That saves me the trouble. I'll lock you up, and then I won't have to interrogate you myself. I can go back and continue my experiments."

With a single sentence, he had directly defined the situation as resisting arrest. The administrator gave them no chance to explain and immediately ordered the Magic Puppets behind him to approach Headless Bro and Amber Xiu.

The enormous robots spewed steam as they approached, every step making the ground tremble. One reached out and grabbed at Headless Bro.

These Magic Puppets possessed tremendous strength. They could crush even rocks between their fingers.

Everyone in the bar hurriedly kept their distance, afraid the Magic Puppets would implicate them.

The administrator was very satisfied with everyone's reaction. In Alchemy City, the words of alchemists were the rules. Anyone who wanted to live there had to obey their commands unconditionally.

Those ordinary people who lacked even the most basic knowledge of alchemy were nothing more than parasites living in the city. Just as the Lyne Empire discriminated against all heretics, Alchemy City also looked down on the "lowborn" who came there to make a living.

In the administrator's eyes, Headless Bro was merely a down-and-out adventurer in ragged clothes. Naturally, the consequence of daring to speak disrespectfully was being thrown in prison.

However, the result completely exceeded his expectations.

The Magic Puppet extended its steel arm and gripped Headless Bro's shoulder, intending to subdue him. Yet it was as if it were facing a towering mountain. Its mechanical core roared under the strain, but Headless Bro remained completely motionless.

Headless Bro said disdainfully, "That's it? I'd complain if this were a massage."

The administrator's eyes widened. He had not seen Headless Bro use any magic, yet the Magic Puppet possessed enough strength to twist steel. How could it possibly fail to drag away a single person?

Amber Xiu sighed as well. He had not wanted to make a big deal out of things, but now that they had laid hands on his guest, compromise was absolutely impossible. Otherwise, how could he possibly stay in the Mourning Poetry Society afterward?

Two bolts of lightning shot from Amber Xiu's hands, electrocuting the two Magic Puppets until their bodies convulsed and thick black smoke poured out of them.

The young administrator was startled when two Magic Puppets were disabled in an instant.

These were Alchemy City's prestigious creations, boasting excellent magical resistance. How could they have been casually shocked into scrap metal?

"You actually dare to resist?! You're openly violating Alchemy City's laws! Stop your unlawful actions immediately, and I may consider leniency. Otherwise, you will suffer severe punishment. Do you really intend to make an enemy of all Alchemy City?!"

Only the mighty Alchemy City could offer him any comfort now. He hoped its name would frighten the two men into backing down.

Amber Xiu, however, calmly took out a badge and held it before the administrator.

"This... This is..." The administrator's eyes widened. Then he dropped to his knees before Amber Xiu and said in a panic, "I'm terribly sorry. I was rash and offended you, sir. Please forgive me."

Headless Bro said in surprise, "Oh? Brother, you're an official in Alchemy City?"

Amber Xiu shook his head. "No. This is the Distinguished Scholar Badge. I contributed several Magic Potion formulas to Alchemy City, so it's an honorary title."

Headless Bro asked curiously, "If you're not an official with real authority, what's he afraid of?"

"In Alchemy City, knowledge stands above race, faith, and law. Aside from the Alchemist Council, no one has the right to put a distinguished scholar on trial. All I need to do is write a letter, and he'll be unable to join any alchemy laboratory, cutting off his future entirely. Unfortunately, this badge is only symbolic. It's very difficult to turn it into anything useful."

After hearing Amber Xiu's explanation, Headless Bro could not help saying, "That's even more twisted than the values of those religious fanatics from Lyne."

Amber Xiu strongly agreed. Religious discrimination and professional discrimination were equally twisted.

The female Orc proprietor, who had been standing tensely to one side, excitedly walked over to Headless Bro and asked with concern, "Gareth, is your arm all right?"

Amber Xiu watched the female Orc squeeze and knead Headless Bro's arm. He could not tell whether she was genuinely worried or merely taking the opportunity to touch him a few times.

Ignoring the melodrama unfolding beside him, Amber Xiu picked up the bottle of Lie Detector Potion and said to the administrator, "Drink it. I have a few questions for you."

"This..."

The administrator looked at the potion bottle with hesitation.

"You should understand that if I kill you now, I'll only need to write two papers for Alchemy City to escape punishment," Amber Xiu said.

That was somewhat exaggerated. At the very least, the papers would have to be good enough for publication in Legendary Spell to offset the crime of killing an administrator. Amber Xiu definitely would not do such a thing unless absolutely necessary. The data required for those papers had all been obtained through experimentation, and the cost had been enormous. Giving them to Alchemy City for free would be enough to make him vomit blood.

The administrator did not know that, however. All he knew was that Amber Xiu's words were true. A distinguished scholar's papers were indeed worth far more than an administrator's life.

Powerless to resist, he could only drink the bottle of Lie Detector Potion. Its bitter taste twisted his entire face into a grimace.

After confirming that the potion had taken effect, Amber Xiu said, "What official document did the Lyne Empire send that requires an administrator to investigate the Paladin's whereabouts?"

"I don't know much either. I heard that this Paladin named Allen Watson is the son of the Lyne Empire's Supreme Adjudicator. That's why the Lyne Empire not only sent diplomatic documents in advance asking us to help investigate Allen Watson's disappearance, but also dispatched a delegation that is currently on its way to Alchemy City. Their objective is very clear: they must find Allen Watson. They want him alive if he's alive and dead if he's dead."

"A delegation? Is the Supreme Adjudicator coming in person?" Amber Xiu pressed.

"Not exactly. But the delegation's status is also very high. It's the Order of the Guilty Knights, which belongs to the Judicial Council. It's second only to the Lyne Emperor's Imperial Guard. That's why several councilors are taking this very seriously. They've already sent out a large number of administrators to search everywhere. I'm only one of them."

"The Order of the Guilty Knights? Gareth, have you heard of them?" Amber Xiu asked Headless Bro.

Headless Bro was enjoying the female Orc's massage. Upon hearing Amber Xiu's question, he shook his head. "I haven't heard of them either. Back then... Ahem. Anyway, the only ones I knew were the Lyne Emperor's Imperial Guard."

"All right." Amber Xiu turned back to the administrator. "You don't need to investigate anymore. Tell the council that Allen Watson is in my hands. If they want to talk, have the council send someone to find me."

Amber Xiu had no intention of hiding anything. He had extorted five thousand gold coins from Allen Watson, and the Paladin had participated in the previous battle as a mercenary. None of that could be concealed. Since that was the case, he might as well negotiate directly with Alchemy City.

That old bastard James Watson was determined not to pay, but perhaps Amber Xiu could sell Allen Watson to Alchemy City and recoup at least a tiny part of his losses.

The biological son of the Lyne Empire's Supreme Adjudicator was merely an ordinary captive to Amber Xiu. To Alchemy City, however, he might be an excellent political bargaining chip.